System and Method for Cooling Information Handling Resources

ABSTRACT

In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, at least one of one or more pumps and a heat exchanger of a fluidic network may be fluidically coupled to its respective adjacent fluidic conduits such that it may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates in general to cooling information handling resources, and more particularly to fluid cooling of individual components of an information handling system.

BACKGROUND

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.

As the capabilities of information handling systems have improved, the power requirements of information handling systems and their component information handling resources have increased. Accordingly, the amount of heat produced by such information handling resources have increased. Because the electrical properties of information handling resources may be adversely affected by the presence of heat (e.g., some information handling resources may not operate correctly outside of a particular range of temperatures), information handling systems often include cooling systems configured to cool such information handling resources.

Traditionally, information handling resources have been cooled via the impingement of air driven by one or more fans. As the density of information handling resources present in information handling systems have increased, and as information handling resources have become faster (and thus hotter), the airflow required to provide adequate cooling has increased, leading to the need for more powerful fans and/or greater numbers of fans. This leads to yet more power consumption, larger information handling system size, and excessive noise. In addition, because fans often transfer heat to those areas proximate to the information handling system being cooled, users of such information handling systems are often required to tolerate higher-than-typical temperatures.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, the disadvantages and problems associated with cooling information handling resources have been substantially reduced or eliminated.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a system may include one or more pumps for displacing a first fluid, a heat exchanger in fluid communication with the one or more pumps, an external fluidic network port in fluid communication with the heat exchanger and configured to interface with an external fluidic network, and a chassis fluidic network port in fluid communication with the heat exchanger and the one or more pumps and configured to interface with a chassis fluidic network residing in the chassis. The heat exchanger may include a first fluidic conduit for carrying the first fluid and a second fluidic conduit for carrying a second fluid wherein the heat exchanger is configured to transfer heat from the first fluid to the second fluid. The external fluidic network may be configured to convey the second fluid to the heat exchanger from a source external to a chassis in which the heat exchanger and the one or more pumps reside, convey the second fluid to a destination external to the chassis, and cool the second fluid while the second fluid is external to the chassis. The chassis fluidic network may be configured to convey the first fluid such that heat is transferred from one or more information handling resources residing in the chassis to the first fluid and receive the first fluid such that heat is transferred from the first fluid to the second fluid in the heat exchanger. At least one of the one or more pumps and heat exchanger may be fluidically coupled to its respective adjacent fluidic conduits such that it may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.

Technical advantages of the present disclosure may be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the following specification, claims, and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein THE FIGURE illustrates an information handling system including a system for cooling of information handling resources, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Preferred embodiments and their advantages are best understood by reference to THE FIGURE, wherein like numbers are used to indicate like and corresponding parts.

For the purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a PDA, a consumer electronic device, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include memory, one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic. Additional components or the information handling system may include one or more storage devices, one or more communications ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communication between the various hardware components.

For the purposes of this disclosure, fluid conduits or fluidic conduits may broadly refer to any device, system or apparatus for the conveyance of fluid (e.g., tubing, a pipe, a hollow cylinder, a channel, a microchannel, etc.).

For the purposes of this disclosure, an information handling resource may broadly refer to any component system, device or apparatus of an information handling system, including without limitation a processor, bus, memory, input-output device and/or interface, storage resource (e.g., hard disk drives), network interface, electro-mechanical device (e.g., fan), display, power supply, and/or any portion thereof. An information handling resource may comprise any suitable package or form factor, including without limitation an integrated circuit package or a printed circuit board having mounted thereon one or more integrated circuits.

THE FIGURE illustrates an information handling system 100 including a system for cooling of information handling resources, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in THE FIGURE, information handling system 100 may include a chassis 101 housing a heat exchanger 102, one or more pumps 104, a positive manifold 106 a, a negative manifold 106 b, one or more quick disconnect fluid fittings 108, one or more fluidic conduits 110, a external fluid network port 112, a chassis fluid network port 114, a fluid prime interface 116, a drain 118, and a power supply 120. In addition, chassis 101 may house information handling resources and/or other components (not explicitly shown). Each of the various enumerated components of and other components chassis 101 may be modular, hot-pluggable, and hot-serviceable, such that during a failure or maintenance, such modular components may be, individually or in combination, removed without discharging and recharging cooling fluid in other components, and potentially without affecting operation of other components, thus potentially reducing downtime.

Chassis 101 may include any suitable enclosure for housing information handling resources. For example, chassis 101 may comprise a computer chassis or enclosure configured to hold one or more server blades. As another example, chassis 101 may comprise a storage enclosure configured to hold one or more storage resources (e.g., hard disk drives).

A heat exchanger 102 may comprise any system, device, or apparatus configured to transfer heat from one fluidic conduit to another fluidic conduit, thus cooling fluid present in the first fluidic conduit. In some embodiments, heat exchanger 102 may comprise a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger.

A pump 104 may include any system, device, or apparatus configured to displace fluid from one fluidic conduit to another fluidic conduit. For example, as shown in THE FIGURE, a pump 104 may displace fluid from negative manifold 106 b to positive manifold 106 a, and further displace fluid from positive manifold 106 a to other fluidic components of information handling system 100. Each pump may be fluidically coupled to positive manifold 106 via a quick disconnect fluid fitting 108 and fluidically coupled to negative manifold 106 via a quick disconnect fluid fitting 108. As described below, such quick disconnect fluid fittings 108 may comprise no-drip valves, allowing each pump 104 to be hot pluggable into the fluidic network of information handling system 100, permitting redundancy and allowing replacement of a pump 104 without powering down information handling system 100 or discharging the fluid in the fluid network of information handling system 100.

Positive manifold 106 a may comprise any fluidic conduit configured to redirect fluid received from one or more pumps 104 to a fluidic conduit for distribution to other fluidic components of information handling system 100. Similarly, negative manifold 106 b may receive fluid from the fluidic system of information handling system 100, and, due to the fluid displacement caused by one or more pumps 104, deliver such fluid to the one or more pumps 104.

Thoughout this disclosure, reference is made to various fluidic conduits 110 and/or fluidic components being coupled via quick disconnect fluid fittings. A quick disconnect fluid fitting 110 may be made from plastic, rubber, or other suitable material and may be any system, device or apparatus configured to couple fluidic channels 110 and/or components to one another to create a fluid seal that substantially prevents the leaking or dripping of any fluid at such points of coupling.

A fluidic conduits 110 may include any device, system or apparatus for the conveyance of fluid (e.g., tubing, a pipe, a hollow cylinder, a channel, a microchannel, etc.).

External fluidic network port 112 may include a plurality of quick disconnect fluid fittings 108 whereby fluidic conduits of information handling system 100 may be coupled to an external fluidic network. The external fluidic network may be configured to pump heated external network fluid from heat exchanger 102 (e.g., fluid to which heat has been transferred from chassis network fluid via liquid-to-liquid heat exchange in heat exchanger 102) to an external heat exchanger where such external network fluid is cooled so that it may cycle again to heat exchanger 102 to provide further cooling in chassis 101. In some embodiments, the external fluidic network may provide external network fluid to a plurality of information handling systems. Accordingly, the quick disconnect fluid fittings 108 of external fluidic network port 112 may, in such embodiments, be immediately coupled to the external fluidic network port 112 of another information handling system, thus permitting the information handling systems 100 to be fluidically coupled in series.

Chassis fluidic network port 114 may include a plurality of quick disconnect fluid fittings 108 whereby fluidic conduits 110 depicted in THE FIGURE may be coupled to a chassis fluidic network (not explicitly shown) of chassis 101 including other fluidic conduits 110 and/or other fluidic components carrying chassis network fluid and configured to transfer heat from information handling resources of information handling system 100 to the chassis network fluid, thus cooling such information handling resources.

Fluid prime interface 116 may include a plurality of quick disconnect fluid fittings 108 whereby fluid may be added to the chassis fluidic network of information handling system 100 in order to “charge” the fluidic conduits and components of information handling system with fluid. Similarly, drain 118 may provide a fluidic conduit whereby fluid may be drained to “discharge” the chassis fluidic network.

Power supply 120 may include any device, system, or apparatus operable to supply electrical energy to pumps 104 and/or other components of information handling system 100 via a power bus and/or any other suitable network of electrical conduits.

In operation, one or more pumps 104 may deliver chassis network fluid to positive manifold 106 a. From positive manifold 106 a, fluid may then travel (e.g., by displacement caused by one or more pumps 104) via chassis fluidic network port 114 to other portions of chassis 101, where heat from information handling resources may be transferred to the chassis network fluid. Chassis network fluid may return via chassis fluidic network port 114 and travel to heat exchanger 102, where it may transfer heat to external network fluid entering and exiting chassis 101 via external fluidic network port 112. From heat exchanger 102, cooled chassis network fluid may travel to negative manifold 106 b, from which it may be distributed to the one or more pumps 104, where the process of communicating fluid may repeat itself.

In the embodiment shown in THE FIGURE, the one or more pumps 104 received cooled chassis network fluid from heat exchanger 102. However, in other embodiments, the one or more pumps 104 may receive heated chassis network fluid from chassis fluidic network port 114 and displace such fluid to heat exchanger 102, where heat exchanger 102 may cool such chassis network fluid prior to the chassis network fluid being displaced to chassis fluidic network port 114 for distribution to other fluidic components of chassis 101.

Although the present disclosure has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: one or more pumps for displacing a first fluid; a heat exchanger in fluid communication with the one or more pumps, the heat exchanger comprising: a first fluidic conduit for carrying the first fluid; and a second fluidic conduit for carrying a second fluid; wherein the heat exchanger is configured to transfer heat from the first fluid to the second fluid; and an external fluidic network port in fluid communication with the heat exchanger and configured to interface with an external fluidic network, wherein the external fluidic network is configured to convey the second fluid to the heat exchanger from a source external to a chassis in which the heat exchanger and the one or more pumps reside, convey the second fluid to a destination external to the chassis, and cool the second fluid while the second fluid is external to the chassis; and a chassis fluidic network port in fluid communication with the heat exchanger and the one or more pumps and configured to interface with a chassis fluidic network residing in the chassis, wherein the chassis fluidic network is configured to convey the first fluid such that heat is transferred from one or more information handling resources residing in the chassis to the first fluid and receive the first fluid such that heat is transferred from the first fluid to the second fluid in the heat exchanger; wherein at least one of the one or more pumps and heat exchanger is fluidically coupled to its respective adjacent fluidic conduits such that it may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.
 2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more pumps receive cooled first fluid from the heat exchanger and displace the cooled first fluid to the chassis fluidic network port.
 3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more pumps receive heated first fluid from the chassis fluidic network port and displace the heated first fluid to the heat exchanger.
 4. A system according to claim 1, further including a manifold fluidically interfaced between the one or more pumps and the heat exchanger.
 5. A system according to claim 4, wherein the manifold is fluidically coupled to its respective adjacent fluidic conduits such that it may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.
 6. A system according to claim 5, wherein the one or more pumps, heat exchanger, and manifold may be removed as a single unit such the unit may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.
 7. A system according to claim 1, further including a manifold fluidically interfaced between the one or more pumps and the chassis fluidic network port.
 8. A system according to claim 6, wherein the manifold is fluidically coupled to its respective adjacent fluidic conduits such that it may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.
 9. A system according to claim 8, wherein the one or more pumps, heat exchanger, and manifold may be removed as a single unit such the unit may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.
 10. A system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more pumps and heat exchanger may be removed as a single unit such the unit may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.
 11. An information handling system comprising: one or more information handling resources; one or more pumps for displacing a first fluid; a heat exchanger in fluid communication with the one or more pumps, the heat exchanger comprising: a first fluidic conduit for carrying the first fluid; and a second fluidic conduit for carrying a second fluid; wherein the heat exchanger is configured to transfer heat from the first fluid to the second fluid; and an external fluidic network port in fluid communication with the heat exchanger and configured to interface with an external fluidic network, wherein the external fluidic network is configured to convey the second fluid to the heat exchanger from a source external to the information handling system, convey the second fluid to a destination external to the information handling system, and cool the second fluid while the second fluid is external to the information handling system; a chassis fluidic network configured to convey the first fluid such that heat is transferred from the one or more information handling resources to the first fluid and receive the first fluid such that heat is transferred from the first fluid to the second fluid in the heat exchanger; and a chassis fluidic network port in fluid communication with the heat exchanger and the one or more pumps and configured to interface with the chassis fluidic network; wherein at least one of the one or more pumps and heat exchanger is fluidically coupled to its respective adjacent fluidic conduits such that it may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.
 12. An information handling system according to claim 11, wherein the one or more pumps receive cooled first fluid from the heat exchanger and displace the cooled first fluid to the chassis fluidic network port.
 13. An information handling system according to claim 11, wherein the one or more pumps receive heated first fluid from the chassis fluidic network port and displace the heated first fluid to the heat exchanger.
 14. An information handling system according to claim 11, further including a manifold fluidically interfaced between the one or more pumps and the heat exchanger.
 15. An information handling system according to claim 14, wherein the manifold is fluidically coupled to its respective adjacent fluidic conduits such that it may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.
 16. An information handling system according to claim 15, wherein the one or more pumps, heat exchanger, and manifold may be removed as a single unit such the unit may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.
 17. An information handling system according to claim 11, further including a manifold fluidically interfaced between the one or more pumps and the chassis fluidic network port.
 18. An information handling system according to claim 16, wherein the manifold is fluidically coupled to its respective adjacent fluidic conduits such that it may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.
 19. An information handling system according to claim 18, wherein the one or more pumps, heat exchanger, and manifold may be removed as a single unit such the unit may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis.
 20. An information handling system according to claim 11, wherein the one or more pumps and heat exchanger may be removed as a single unit such the unit may be removed from and replaced in the chassis without discharging cooling fluid present in other fluidic components of the chassis. 